- The agreement signed with the Cuban government has the objective of sending Caribbean doctors to the most marginalized areas in Mexico.
- To date, there is strong opposition from the national staff, stating that Cuban doctors are not really specialists or have sufficient knowledge.
- It is estimated that another 333 Cuban specialists will arrive during the rest of the month to be assigned to medical units in the states of Veracruz, Oaxaca and Guerrero.
One of the most recent discussions that have been generated is about the alleged shortage of specialists in our country. Federal authorities insist that there are not enough staff to care for patients and that is why they signed a contract to bring Cuban doctors.
Now, the national doctors insist that it is a wrong decision. His argument is that there is enough staff but what is missing are job opportunities. In fact, inexplicably layoffs have occurred in several hospitals in recent months.
Despite the aforementioned complaints, the federal government has made it clear that there is no going back. In fact, today the general director of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), Zoé Robledo, reported that there are 277 Cuban doctors who already work in our country. At the moment they are in the states of Nayarit, Colima, Campeche, Baja California Sur, Zacatecas, Sonora and Oaxaca.
Of those that are already in Mexico, the majority are from the specialties of Internal Medicine (75), Pediatrics (73) and General Surgery (59).
Breakdown of the specialists who are already in Mexico
To be more specific, the official added that within the Program of Cuban Medical Specialists, in Nayarit there are 92 specialists in the municipalities: Ixtlán del Río, Del Nayar, Rosamorada, Tepic, Santiago Ixcuintla, La Yesca, Compostela, Acaponeta, Tondoroque and Bay Of flags.
In the case of Colima, there are 57 specialists in five municipalities: the capital Colima, Ixtlahuacán, Tecomán, Manzanillo and Villa de Álvarez.
He added that in Campeche there are 49 specialists in eight municipalities: Champotón, Candelaria, Hopelchén, Palizada, Carmen, Calakmul, Calkini and Escárcega.
Zoé Robledo said that 10 specialists arrived in Baja California Sur to work at the Hospitals of Santa Rosalía, Mulegé, Loreto and Comundú.
He added that in Zacatecas there are 11 Cuban doctors who operate in the Fresnillo Women’s Hospital, which has just started operations in the Emergency Room and in Outpatient Consultation. While in Sonora there are 15 specialists at the Cananea Hospital.
He stressed that 43 specialists arrived in Oaxaca last week to be assigned to medical units in the municipalities of San Pedro Pochutla, Santa Catarina Juquilla, San Pedro Mixtepec, Santa María Huatulco, San Pedro Huamelula, Miahuatlán and in Villa de Tututepec.
The arrival of more Cuban doctors is expected
The general director of the IMSS reported that in the rest of the month it is estimated that 333 specialists arrive to be assigned to medical units in the states of Veracruz, Oaxaca and Guerrero.
He explained that due to the lack of specialist doctors and the efforts to recruit them, mainly in distant hospitals and poor communities, the Mexican government signed a collaboration agreement with the Cuban Ministry of Health to strengthen medical care for people who lack social Security.
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